5 things you missed at CES: Connected homes make life easier, fun

By Andy Vuong, The Denver Post

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

1. Smart IQ oven from Dacor

California-based Dacor is showcasing a high-end, 48-inch oven that features a 7-inch touchscreen display. BMW Designworks USA created the display, which can be programmed to show a variety of information such as suggested temperatures for certain meats. Owners can also download apps like YouTube onto the range’s internal computer system turning the so-called “IQ oven” into a mini video display.

“It makes cooking for the home chef in the luxury kitchen a lot easier,” said Michael West, Dacor’s director of marketing.

Place emphasis on luxury as the oven will retail for $12,000 when it’s released this summer.

2. MiPow’s PlayBulb is the smart light bulb

The PlayBulb adds a new dimension to the smart light bulb with the integration of a Bluetooth speaker and an alarm clock. Owners can turn the bulb on or off, set the alarm or stream music to the speakers via an Android or iOS smartphone app. The alarm can be programmed to turn the off the bulb and music simultaneously. The PlayBulb will cost $79 when it’s released, tentatively scheduled for the end of the first quarter of this year.

3. Schlage’s touchscreen deadbolt

Leave your keys in the other purse? Forget if you locked the house before leaving work? With Schlage’s touchscreen deadbolt, those worries are a thing of the past. Homeowners can set a four-digit code to lock and unlock the deadbolt. The product is compatible with Z-Wave home automation technology, enabling owners to control it with a smartphone app if a third-party hub is installed.

The deadbolt will also send homeowners an alert if it is being tampered with, i.e. if the wrong code is entered three consecutive times. The lock runs on AA batteries. When the batteries are low, an alert is sent to the owner’s smartphone. The deadbolt costs $199 and is available at Lowe’s, Home Depot, Amazon and other retailers.

4. Revolv home automation smart hub

Boulder-based startup Revolv brings various home automation products, such as Schlage’s touchscreen deadbolt and Nest’s smart thermostat, under one roof, so to speak.

The Revolv smart hub features seven wireless radios, which allows it to work with multiple home automation technologies. Once a product is synced wirelessly to the Revolv hub, homeowner’s can control it via Revolv’s smartphone app.

Popular home automation products are controlled with their individual dedicated apps and often use competing short-range wireless technologies – Nest works with Z-Wave while Philips Hue lighting system is compatible with ZigBee. Revolv connects them all.

Put another way: Rather than having separate keys for the front door, garage door, car door and mailbox, Revolv gives you one master key.

“Home automation has been around for a long time. But that’s a term that has been primarily reserved for a luxury unit that would have a custom installer that would could cost tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars to install,” Revolv co-founder Mike Soucie said in an interview before CES. “There’s a change here that’s called the smart home. What does that really mean? We like to call it lifestyle automation.”

The Revolv hub launched in November and is available on Amazon for $299.

5. Sony’s Life Space UX

Sony unveiled a new line of products Tuesday aimed at expanding the use or purpose of everyday life spaces. The company’s Ultra Short Throw projector is one such product.

Sony President and CEO Kazuo Hirai said the projector can be used to deliver perfect scale, vivid images to replicate real-life scenes.

For example, if you can’t attend a concert, the show could be projected in full scale onto your wall, offering an in-venue experience from the confines of your home.

“Normal walls will become fluent displays,” Hirai said.

He said the first iteration of the product is slated to launch in the U.S. this summer.